This invention relates to a liquid collecting member and, more particularly, to a tubular absorbent member for collecting liquid spills, leaks, or drips, both to prevent the spread thereof and to remove the liquid.
Unwanted liquid spills such as, for example, oil spills around machinery, chemical spills in, for example, laboratories, blood in hospital operating rooms, and various liquids in food processing plants are often hazardous to personnel in the vicinity thereof, can create degradation of the breathable atmosphere, destroy the antiseptic integrity of an operating room, and present a danger of contamination in food processing.
Efforts to deal with such spills range from throwing diatomaceous earth or clay on the spill and, after absorption, sweeping or shoveling it up, to various types of porous socks or pillows filled with absorbing material to absorb the spill. One such device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,497,712 Cowling, which comprises a pillow having a plurality of pockets which are partially filled with granular absorbing material. The material of the pillow itself has a high permeability to liquids. However, the pillow lacks flexibility and must be placed over the spill to be effective. Another type of device is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,486 Swanson which comprises a mass of hydrophobic netting material which relies upon the tendency of oil to bridge the openings in the netting on a short term basis, thereby enabling the user to collect large amounts of spilled oil, for example.
A very common type of device is a tubular member of nylon weave or even cheesecloth or other loosely knit material filled with absorbing material such as ground up corncobs, several of which are placed around the spill to confine it to as small an area as possible, and which then absorbs the spilled liquid. This latter type of device, because of its substantially circular cross-section, does not have a large area of contact with the floor or whatever surface the spill overlays, and hence the aborpiton process is slowed down. All of the preceding arrangements are relatively slow in their actions where often speed is required. Also, in the treatment of acid spills, the acid tends to break down the fabric of the device, and also to attack and destroy the effectiveness of the absorbent material.
In food processing plants, most of the devices of the prior art cannot, because of Federal restrictions, be used. Where the absorbing material is ground up solid matter, such as corncobs or other cellulosic material, a large amount of minute particles, i.e., dust, escapes from the porous container and itself can act as a food contaminant. Federal requirements are such that most spills have to be treated with detergents and mopped up to avoid contamination. Even then care must be exercised in the use of the detergent to avoid contamination thereby. Such a process is necessarily a slow one.